Finding Joy, the highest-rated comedy debut of 2018 for RTÉ and a sleeper hit for Acorn TV, will return to both channels in 2020 with a second season.

Amy Huberman on the set of Finding Joy — Photo courtesy of Acorn TV

Created, written by, and starring Irish Film & TV Academy winner Amy Huberman (Striking Out, The Clinic), Finding Joy is a warm, funny, and irreverent look at modern Ireland and how we try to find meaning in our lives in a world where old certainties are gone.

Said Huberman:

“I’m so excited to be starting series 2 with such a great cast and crew. It’s been a busy few months getting the scripts in shape and this week we start rolling to bring it all to life again. We really loved filming last year and are so looking forward to getting going now with season 2. Two for Joy!”

The series follows Joy (Huberman) as she navigates through new (ad) ventures in her life, following the break-up of her long-term relationship. In Series 1, Joy unwittingly lands a new job as a vlogger, and her unpolished pieces turn out to be a hit with the News Today subscribers. As she braves the strange and hair-raising world of therapeutic wrestling, internet dating, group therapy, and abseiling, Joy comes to realize that her professional journey may be able to help her negotiate her personal dramas.

Series 2 finds a newly-motivated Joy, reborn as an independent entrepreneur, struggling to establish her own online brand of joy (and Joy) — finding happiness and fulfillment in everyday life — with the support of Emer (Ruth Kearney, Primeval), her new no-nonsense assistant, and the ever-faithful Stan (Paul Reid, Raw). While Joy throws herself into building her business and subscribers with great zeal, she begins to discover her professional success might come at a great personal cost.

Returning to the series are Lochlann O’Mearain (Can’t Cope, Won’t Cope) as Aidan and Hannah James-Scott (Crumble) as Trish. Kerry Howard (Him & Her) joins the cast as new flatmate Christie, along with Kyle Pryor (Hollyoaks) and Justine Mitchell (Cheat).

A production of Treasure Entertainment, the six-episode new season begins shooting in Dublin this week. It is produced by Rob Walpole and Rebecca O’Flanagan of Treasure Entertainment, and directed by John Butler (Handsome Devil) with director of photography Cathal Watters (Peaky Blinders).

Acorn Media Enterprises has secured all rights in North America, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, and secondary rights in Ireland. Acorn Media International will distribute the series in the English-speaking territories.

Finding Joy: Series 2 will make its World Premiere as an Acorn TV Original on Acorn TV in summer 2020, followed by its Irish premiere on RTÉ.